With This Nest...

Easter Baskets

2013-03-22T14:12:00.003-07:00

Admittedly, I love pulling together ideas for Easter baskets. Last year baby girl fit into hers when the teething rings and bunny were emptied out of it ((tear)) but this year I am excited to watch her rifle through her goodies.

Her basket will be filled with the kitty pictured above, as someone is really into "eee-ows" these days (and let's be honest, I'll use any excuse to buy another jellycat which is the closest she will come to owning an actual kitty given a family full of allergies). And she is also being gifted a cute bunny sippy cup I recently picked up at Target but can't find a link to because UGH their website is awful, is it not? As well as the Alphabook set, as suggested by E at Oh Apostrophe.

I am going to make her some felt bunny pouches using this tutorial, and fill them with some Annie's bunny grahams. That's as close as she'll be coming to sugar this year because the human coffee pot needs no help in the energy department. And as a public service announcement to parents of toddlers I feel obligated to share with you the Peek 'N Peep egg set. We were recently gifted a set of our very own (thanks, Aunt Jenny!) and those little eggs have allowed me to drink an entire cup of coffee, uninterrupted, for two mornings in a row. I am not sure what it is about those little things in their yellow container, but pay heed and get some for your ~~own self~~ toddler!

1. Babbington Cat // 2. Bunny Pouch Tutorial // 3. Alphabooks // 4. Peek 'N Peep Eggs // 5. Lollacup

Weekly Cleaning Schedule

2013-02-28T10:33:00.002-08:00

To say that our lives have become more hectic after baby girl arrived would be a wee bit of an understatement. I feel the need to be more efficient than ever (seriously, what did I do with all that free time before having kids? Did I spend time lying around and staring at the ceiling? I genuinely can't remember, but it seems I must have been a sloth). When it comes to things like cleaning, groceries, meal planning, and general household maintenance there seems to be more of it than ever and less time to get it done.

The thing is, I like a clean house. I don't function well when there is clutter all around me and the nagging feeling that the rugs haven't been vacuumed in weeks and the sheets need changing stresses me the hell out. After we entered toddlerhood I was sure my dreams of a clutter free house had sailed. So my solution was two fold - learn to make some peace with the clutter during the day because there is nothing to be done about trains strewn across the living room and stepping on blocks in the bathroom (honestly, how do things end up in the bathroom?) and also find some sort of a systematic solution to the cleaning so I can free up head space for things like worrying about when babies need to go to the dentist for the first time and whether tea tree oil helps to clear up a diaper rash (in our case, it does not).

I went looking for answers to the latter question in my favorite place - blogs! When another mama says "this is what's working for me" I always pay heed. In my search I remembered Jenny's cleaning schedule on Little Green Notebook and immediately knew that she was onto something. On first glance it looks overwhelming, but I assure you it is not. And more importantly....it's working for us.

The gist is that there are a few standard things that have to be done daily - wipe off counters, take out the trash, load & empty the dishwasher, etc. Things we were doing anyway for just general household maintenance. Then every day you add in one additional chore that doesn't take more than 20 minutes. I would say my daily hands on cleaning time is about 30 minutes after the babe is in bed (with the exception of vacuuming the rugs obviously, which has to be done while she is awake). Essentially this has eliminated the mass house cleaning situation, since we are just doing a little bit each day vs. scrambling around like crazy people and trying to get it all done in one Saturday afternoon effort. You can read Jenny's post to get all the details, but I also thought I would share the chart I made to hang on our fridge so it's easily accessible.

J ust click here (or on the image itself) to download the pdf!

Another suggestion of Jenny's - the clutter basket. It's a simple idea but pure genius. At the end of the day, instead of making 47 trips back and forth to put toys back in one room, shoes in another, and 30 travel size bath products that a certain tiny person has removed from the bathroom drawer and strewn across the living room, you make one trip around the main living area to pick up all the clutter in a basket. Then make one trip through the house to redistribute said items to where their actually belong. It's revolutionary, I tell you. I leave our basket under the hallway console table so it's easily accessible and reminds me to use it.

So there you have it - more words than I ever though I could possibly write about household chores and clutter. My college self is wondering where it all went wrong. What tricks do you use to keep your house in order? Are there are any other game changing tactics out there that I am missing?

Baby Girl Shoes

2012-06-25T10:55:00.001-07:00

I never really thought this would be the case, but since the little is on the brink of walking any day now (she is toddling around behind her little push cart all the time) I've been looking for soft soled shoes. And honestly? Most of the little girl options are pretty "meh" for me. They either have butterflies or princesses or ribbons all over them, or look like they're fashioned for the geriatric set. So after some online searching...admittedly, there are worse things than spending my evenings on the hunt for baby shoes...I found these four options that are definitely my favorites. In case any of you are in the same boat, I thought I would share!

1. See Kai Run 2. See Kai Run 3. Toms (dying over these) 4. Saltwaters

Favorite Baby Products - First Three Months

2012-05-16T18:37:00.000-07:00

When I was pregnant I loved reading about other Mom's favorite baby products. When a momma who has been in the trenches sincerely says they can't live without something, I always take that to heart! We didn't register for anything revolutionary, and I am happy to say we used almost all of what we thought we would need (the one exception really being the bumbo chair, but baby girl sat up by herself pretty early). My registry gurus were the ever fabulous My Life in Transition and Oh! Apostrophe...I am not sure I have much to add to their lists because I copied them pretty closely. So instead of reiterating what they've already said so well, I thought I would share a list of the things I wouldn't have wanted to live without those first three months. And oh what a glamorous three months they were!

1. Em had a pretty serious reflux situation when she was smaller, so bibs and burp cloths were staples of our first few months...I am pretty sure there was one thrown over about every surface of our house at any given moment. The Aden + Anais burpy bib combined both of those things into one, and honestly it looked cute to use when we were out of the house.

2. The boppy lounger graces probably 80% of the pictures from our first couple months at home. It was such a great place to lay her down when we wanted to sit on the couch (she would just hang out in between us) and for the rougher nights we would also put it in between our heads in bed. She spent so much time in that bad boy there is worn spot from her little booty!

3. We're still nursing, and this is still the only bottle baby girl will take. They're designed to make the transition easier for breastfed babies and even though a lot of the Amazon reviews talk about them leaking, we've never had a problem.

4. Our little wiggle worm had to be swaddled until she was around three months old, so we tried a lot of different blankets. We did love the aden + anais swaddles (the regular ones are great and the bamboo are so soft I could cry about it) but when she got a little older and could bust out of those pretty easily we needed something more substantial. I am not sure why these worked, but the swaddle we both reached for in the later months was this one from giggle. It's cute, not quite as soft as the others but worked well for a really tight hold.

5. If I had to pick one product I absolutely couldn't have lived without those first few months, it would be the moby wrap. It's not an exaggeration to say that Em spent the majority of her time cuddled up in there her first few months (daddy even got in on the action). Maybe it was her colic/reflux situation, but when we couldn't make her happy that worked every time. Plus, it meant I had my hands free...I brushed crumbs off her head more times than I care to admit.

6. As previously mentioned, we used a LOT of burp cloths. We had the standard Gerber cloth diapers, but these Bumkins prefolds were our favorite...much more absorbent than the others.

7. I read The Happiest Baby on the Block while I was pregnant, but had no idea how much I would use it or how those techniques would improve our overall existence. I think I read it around 6-7 months pregnant, so by the time I needed the info at 4AM on our second night in the hospital I couldn't remember a damn thing I read. Enter the DVD! I have a vivid memory of Brad and I sitting on the couch watching it and thinking "yeah right, there is no way this is working" and nearly falling out of our seats when it did work. We're pretty sure people should be sent home from the hospital with this thing and will definitely be investing in the toddler version when the time comes!

8. This seems gross, but those nose aspirators they give you in the hospital are worthless. The snot doesn't actually get in your mouth (there are filters) and when you need to clean out some nostrils in the middle of the night you'll be glad you have this around!

9. The Rock 'n Play Sleeper was another staple that I wouldn't have wanted to do without. Again, the reflux might have been the reason Em liked this so much (it's an incline vs. lying flat) but she also logged a lot of hours sleeping in this. It's super easy to travel with and move from room to room because it folds flat. As she got older it was also the perfect place to sit her while we were having dinner.

I think that about sums it up! The only other thing I can think to mention is an iPhone app to track eating, sleeping and diaper changes. I know a lot of people like the Itzbeen, but I pretty much always have my phone with me (and used it to entertain myself during marathon nursing sessions) so it made more sense for me to just use that. I heard great things about the Baby Connect app, but honestly that was a little too much for me - I wanted something simple and easy, and didn't like using a timer/stopwatch to record her meals because I could never remember to start or stop the thing. I just needed to write down when and how long she nursed, so the Eat Sleep app worked perfectly for us (and it's free). I am still using it!

Savannah Beach House

2012-04-09T08:02:00.006-07:00

The husband and I dream of our own beach house one day, and this one designed by Joel Snayd of Rethink Design Studio is perfection. The white walls throughout with the pops of color make the space looks so relaxing and inviting without a lot of kitsch. I love that it quietly says "beach" without screaming it through giant anchors on the walls and tiny sailboats in every corner. And the practicality of the outdoor shower with the washer & dryer right off the entrance? I would like to move in tomorrow, please!

{Found on houzz via Stephmodo. PS - have you seen Stephanie's recent posts on using Pinterest and about comparison? Love them.}

Life, Lately...

2012-04-08T08:21:00.005-07:00

Everything is in full bloom in the Carolinas, which means our daily walks are now prettier and filled with a lot of colors to admire. We celebrated a quiet Easter with just my parents and the little one thoroughly enjoyed her first Easter basket. She is teething, so that is a whole new level of exhaustion and sleep deprivation for us all that (once again) I severely underestimated. I think she is cutting at least three at one time...yikes. But despite the crankiness we had some new family photos taken with the fabulous Whitebox Photography last week. It was a gorgeous day and I can hardly wait to see them! Also, baby sunglasses? Priceless.

PS - I am addicted to Instagram! Do you have an account? My username is: withthisnest

Free Desktop Wallpaper

2012-03-05T10:31:00.004-08:00

Artist Rebekka Seale is designing the most gorgeous desktop wallpapers each month, and offering them for free on her blog! I am loving each month more than the next and her blog has quickly become one of my favorite new reads. She is such a talent! You can download the March wallpaper here.

Literature for the Littles

2012-03-02T11:48:00.004-08:00

Have you seen these adorable new "baby lit" board books? Some are for learning colors, others for practicing counting, but they showcase famous characters and scenes from the classics. There is Jane Eyre (pictured above), Alice in Wonderland, Romeo & Juliet and Pride and Prejudice (below). A tiny drawing of Mr. Darcy - love! The fabulous illustrations were created by Alison Oliver of Sugar Design Studio. It looks like some of them haven't been released yet, but Pride & Prejudice is in my amazon cart!

Canvas Clutch

2012-02-29T06:56:00.002-08:00

I've been coveting a new clutch lately, something that can work for everyday use. Since I frequently switch back and forth between my purse and a diaper bag (depending on when the little is in tow) it's easiest to keep my essentials in one small bag for easy transfers. Right now I am using an old cosmetics bag from a Clinique bonus freebie....which, let's face it, is just a little sad. This clutch from Death & Taxes is definitely on my radar. So cute!

{Found via Urban Grace}

Life, Lately...

2012-02-28T17:30:00.003-08:00

Well, hello there! I've been away from this space for entirely too long, and it's good to be back. It turns out, life pretty much turns upside down when you have a baby (especially one with colic...more on that later). 2011 went out with quite a bang in our house - the aforementioned colic, a schnauzer who decided to get fleas at the worst possible time, and a gallbladder that quit working entirely approximately six weeks after I had the babe. That was fun. But we're finally starting to get our feet back underneath us and I have so much to tell you all!

Baby girl is now six months old (which seems entirely impossible) and in the picture above she is modeling her very first bathing suit, that we hope to put to use very soon. We just started introducing solid foods and are having a fabulous time watching her explore new textures and tastes...she has a flare for the dramatic, this one. I am back to work and trying to survive on one giant mug of coffee a day, as a certain little someone still isn't sleeping through the night. Oh yeah, you read that right. I've read more about infant sleep than I ever imagined and will certainly share some of our adventures here.

I also completely redesigned the blog, so if you are reading this via RSS pop on over and check it out! Oh, and those baby moccasins above? I snagged them on Gilt a couple of weeks ago and can hardly wait until the munchkin fits into them!

She is here...

2011-09-14T16:40:00.003-07:00

I am beyond happy to announce that our daughter is here! It took me a little over two weeks since her arrival to get this post published, which is just a little indicator of how we've been adjusting :) But she is here and she is wonderful - we're completely in love and completely exhausted all at the same time. Everyone is healthy and doing great and I will be back in this space soon with more pictures and details...thank you all so much for your well wishes over the past few weeks!

The Nursery

2011-08-10T08:45:00.001-07:00

As of yesterday it is finally finished, and I am so happy with how it turned out. We got a late start on this little room mainly just because of all we had been through to get to this point. I had a lot of mixed emotions (mainly anxiety) about actually starting to create a space for our girl because I was still so nervous that something might go wrong. So we slowly pieced things together over the last few months and it is now officially my favorite room in the house.

Aside from being really excited to actually use the space, I adore this room because of all the love and little details that went into creating it. My Mom made the crib bumper by hand, the husband built the bookshelves, the bench, the foot stool and he was the mastermind in charge of the stripes (there might have been some swearing involved with that project). I made the mobile, some of the artwork and the pillows. My Dad cut custom mats for the frames and my Mom also made the curtains. The frames that the bunny pictures are hanging in were actually from the photobooth at our wedding, and the little silver picture frame above the dresser was a gift from when I was born, engraved with my birth statistics. The "love" pillow was a housewarming gift from when we first moved in together and even though you can't see it because her name is still a secret (much to my family's dismay) the ends of the bookshelves are monogrammed with baby's initial, in the same font as our wedding stationery. Even the stuffed pig has a special meaning between Brad and I, dating back to our first Valentine's Day together (in 1999...yikes).

*Edited to add: the paint colors we used were Martha Stewart "Heavy Goose" color matched in Olympic Low-VOC paint, and Olympic Low-VOC "Delicate White."*

I am officially 39 weeks pregnant tomorrow and more excited than ever to meet our girl. The waiting really does start to mess with you a little towards the end but I keep reminding myself to cherish the last few days of having her all to myself. I can't wait to see her face, to get to know her and I absolutely can't wait to be her Mommy...it's been a long time coming. I will be back soon with all the details of her arrival!

And of course, this one is still hanging around. She loves the rug in the nursery because it's soft and there is a window nearby just her height. She planted herself here the entire time I was taking pictures...

Nursery Preview

2011-08-08T17:08:00.001-07:00

There is one more tiny project being installed tomorrow, and then the nursery will be complete. It's not a very big room but it has quickly become my favorite space in the house. I'll be back soon with all the rest of the pictures, but for now I am still here and still very pregnant!

Totes

2011-06-23T16:17:00.001-07:00

So much to share with all of you and discuss, and when I actually have some time to blog getting off the couch and getting my camera seems like such a daunting task! So until I can get it together I'll post some of the things I've bookmarked to share with you over the last few months. Have you seen these adorable totes from Fabric & Handle? I am something of a tote bag junkie (much to the horror of the husband) and would love one of these to add to the collection. The handles snap off so you can wash the bag, which is genius!

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I am addicted! Let me know your username so I can see what you're all busy pinning...

Hi.

2011-05-17T15:47:00.001-07:00

So, I took a bit of a break from blogging. Life has been busy and exciting in the best possible way and I needed to step back and absorb it all for awhile. We've moved to North Carolina, into a lovely little yellow house on a hill. I work from home full-time now, which is fabulous. There has been a lot of decorating, unpacking, arranging and....nesting. The day after we unloaded the moving van in our new home we found out I was pregnant! I am just a smidge over a week away from the third trimester, and am finally feeling enough like myself to take a step back into this world.

The reason for my hesitation in talking about our little munchkin is complicated. Part of it is that I was insanely sick until about week 20 - it was a life altering, I don't know if I'll be able to get out of bed tomorrow, type of sick. But also, it took us a long time to get this far. I've never been in a place to talk about it publicly but feel I have a responsibility to say so now. We struggled with infertility for almost two years before we got pregnant with our little girl. There were losses, pain, and a lot of heartache. I remember each time I would read a pregnancy announcement on a blog I would feel that familiar ache, so in case there is anyone else in that position reading this post know that you aren't alone. I am not sure I'll ever be ready to share the specifics of our journey but it was time for me to be honest about where we've been, and how we got here.

So, there you have it. I am slowly returning to this space and am extremely excited for all that the future holds! Thank you so much to everyone who emailed to ask if I was alright...I truly appreciate the concern and am happy to be back.

{Image from the talented Hannah Mayo}

Weekend: In Pictures

2010-11-15T07:21:00.001-08:00

It was a fabulous weekend around here - flea markets, thrift stores, several walks with the pooch in the warm fall weather and finalizing the paperwork on our new house! It really ended up being the perfect situation - a newly renovated house that is having trouble being sold due to the awful housing market, so we're going to rent it for a year and take care of it while we decide exactly where we want to live.

I will share some pictures soon, but in the meantime we are pondering the task of outfitting an entire house with furniture. It's kind of amusing how it used to seem like we had so much stuff, and ultimately we have living room and bedroom furniture. The good news is that there is a rocking Pottery Barn outlet nearby, and we're also hitting up some thrift stores so we can re-purpose some gently loved items (this weekend I found the cutest lamp for $2.50 that we're going to paint and make new). I tried to fight it for quite awhile after the condo renovation of '05 (uh, and I guess '06 too) but we are apparently "rehabbers" at heart. As soon as we found out we got the new house there was talk of refinishing furniture, building a giant upholstered ottoman, etc. The good news is that this time we have a climate controlled garage, so there won't ever be a wet saw in my bathtub!

The Guest Room {Again}

2010-11-08T11:41:00.003-08:00

Yes that's right, I am still enthusiastically decorating the guest bedroom in my head. The good news is - it looks like we found a house! It is certainly heading in the direction of working out perfectly, but I will wait to show you all and explain the details until we know for sure. In the meantime, I might be sold on this duvet cover for the twin bed guest room. I love love the yellow and grey palette but I didn't want anything that was bright, sunshine, I might go blind, yellow. These muted tones seem perfect.

Guest Rooms

2010-10-28T09:58:00.001-07:00

Now that we're looking for a house (a whole house!), I am finding myself really preoccupied with thoughts of a guest room. I don't know why it's so fascinating to me...maybe because our condo was so not conducive to having more than three or four people there at a time. The other word that always peaks my interest is "storage." I know the realtors down here think we're nuts when they mention an attic, and Brad and I bound up the stairs shouting, "Storage? Storage! Look at those exposed beams! We won't have to keep your golf clubs in the trunk anymore!"

But anyway, the guest room. I keep coming back to thoughts of twin beds sharing a room, which seems slightly 1962 but also sort of practical. It could expand the room to be shared by two people who wouldn't normally care to share a bed (say, when my Aunt and cousin come to stay). But really I think the appeal lies in the symmetry of it all...oh the symmetry. The idea of matching headboards with a table in between makes me endlessly happy!
Collage One: Better Home & Gardens | Creed | House Beautiful | Veranda
Collage Two: Both from Domino
Collage Three: Apartment Therapy

Blooming

2010-10-20T16:55:00.001-07:00

There are these pretty pink flowers blooming on the trees (bushes?) outside the townhouse. I didn't know there were things that bloomed in October, and I am mildly fascinated by them. No idea what type of flower it is, but I am guessing my Mom will know when she gets here! Aren't they lovely?

Moving Out

2010-10-08T09:52:00.001-07:00

In my experience, when blogs go silent for extended periods of time that usually means something is up. And in our case it meant a pretty major adjustment - we are officially Carolinians! Last month we quite literally packed all our things into a moving fan (basically by ourselves, despite the fact that we hired over-priced movers) and left Chicago behind. We started to toy around with the idea of leaving the city awhile ago but the economy and the housing market had other plans. And as these things go, what took a long time to happen ultimately did happen so quickly that we barely had time to say goodbye!

In the end we sold our condo twice, once packing up all of our belongings only to have the sale fall through days before the closing. I am not sure why interrogators even mess with those tactics they use - as far as I am concerned they should just make people pack up all of their wordly belongings, stare at the boxes for days, and then unpack all the same crap back in its original place. I would have confessed to anything halfway through the unpacking! But we're here (in South Carolina for the moment) staying at my parent's townhouse and looking for a house (a house!!) in North Carolina. Its so exciting and completely surreal but we are loving the warm weather and wide open spaces. So, that's what has been going on around here. I will definitely be back to regular posting now that things have slowed down a bit. And we've been cooking up a storm so there is much to share! In the meantime, here are some of the views around these parts...

And of course, this character is still hanging around. During the 12+ hours it took us to drive down here there was a lot of sighing from her in the backseat (as if it was my idea of a good time to sit in the car for that long and just forced her along for the ride). But she is happily adjusted and almost instantly declared a turf war with the chipmunks. Alvin & Theodore are her worst nightmare.

Sunshine for Monday

2010-08-09T13:26:00.001-07:00

Sunflowers are such an inexpensive pick-me-up...I smiled all weekend whenever I glanced at these on our kitchen table. I realize it's hard to read the quote, but it says" The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles."

Back In Touch

2010-08-01T19:40:00.001-07:00

I think my neglect of this space is always a good gauge for how hectic life has been. I just looked back and realized I've posted three times since May, so that about sums it up! There are no indications that life is going to slow down in the near future so instead I am trying to actively make time to write here.

Part of the recent neglect is because it was brought to my attention that people are reading this blog with ill intentions...people who "know" me in real life and are basically just hunting for things to gossip about. That knowledge gave me pause because this space has always felt like a place to interact with friends. I thought for awhile about making the blog private but in the end, I decided to just say screw it and pick up where I left off. So, friends and frenemies alike, here we go...

We just returned from some time in South Carolina at my parent's lake house, and I practically had to drag myself to the car to leave. Living in a concrete jungle means that my body breathes a sigh of relief as soon as we see those mountains in the first picture, above. All of these photos make the trip look a lot more rustic than it actually was, but we certainly did our fair share of floating in the lake and spending minimal time indoors. Why is it that no vacation feels long enough after a few hours back at home? I could leave again right this minute...

Scenes from the Weekend

2010-07-05T20:10:00.001-07:00

These pictures pretty much sum up my favorite type of weekend - lots of lounging near a pool, family, local produce stands, pedicures and relaxation. I read three books in nearly as many days which is always a good barometer for how much lounging was actually accomplished. Exactly what I needed.

Weekend Walks

2010-05-16T19:59:00.002-07:00

It's been quite awhile since the weather was warm enough and we've had enough of a break in our lives to resume our weekend walks. As you can imagine, Lola is quite the fan (as of this moment, she still hasn't moved off the couch since we got back from the walk this afternoon). There is something really lovely about going for a long walk with a camera, setting out with the intention to take pictures of something beautiful. I think you look at things differently when you're trying to capture something worth sharing. We usually switch between taking pictures and holding the leash, and these are my shots from the day. I am still adjusting a little to being the weird lady with the camera, taking pictures of strangers foliage, but I love the results too much to worry about it!

Tulips

2010-03-30T14:45:00.001-07:00

Because really, few things make me happier than fresh flowers wrapped in kraft paper. I am committed to having fresh flowers in the house on a regular basis, if for no other reason that it makes me smile!